How I Like To Work

While I am wide open to adapt to what works for you, this is how I like to build a project. Budget on the process taking about six months in total if you have a day job, otherwise much shorter. This process is never completed followed, but it is the structure that keeps us all locked in and focused.

Pre-Production
During this phase, you and I will meet weekly or more frequently to exchange musical ideas and develop a winning musical strategy for your project. You may bring favorite CD’s that represent you musical preference, your prior recordings, your songs both complete and just song ideas. The goal is to develop a song list, arrangement approach, instrumentation strategy, and structure that rocks.

Scratch Recording
After our ideas are firmed up, a very crude scratch recording will be made to represent our ideas for each song. This recording will be performed to a click with each instrument on an individual track. Sonic excellence is not important here, just to represent the ideas and song structures. Instruments may be represented by drum machines or synth ideas. Eventually, every performance on this scratch recording will be replaced with final performances. It gives all the musicians a crude representation of what we are looking for.

Rhythm Section
A hit is fundamentally a great song, a great vocal performance, solid drums and bass. You build a house from the foundation up. Bass and drums are the first step in recording a great song. Using the scratch recording as a guide, we will record a killer rhythm section using your musicians or SRP studio musicians. Ideally, the bass and drums will performed at the same time.

Overdubs
At this point, it is time to assemble the other elements of the arrangement. Guitars, keyboards, percussion, wind instruments, and other elements are recorded individually or in groups

Rough Mix
OK, now we have final performances for the rhythm section and other instruments, with that still crude vocal hanging in there. While rough mixes are assembled at every stage, at this point, we are beginning to listen most intently for completeness and impact. A rough mix is built at this point as a major checkpoint in our process. A “punch list” will be developed on editing and performance issues that need to be addressed. This is the mix that will be used for the final vocal performance.

Final Vocal Performance
Vocal performances will be performed using the rough mix. I will ask for a lot at this point. We will conduct a microphone “shoot-out” to find the ideal mic for your voice. Typical is 8 or more performances of a vocal per song. From that I will “comp” or compile a “greatest hits” edited compilation of the best performances in each phrase of the song.. Harmonies will also be done at this time.

Punch List
A punch list of performance production issues will be created and agreed to by both of us. We will make the necessary chnges be it additional instruments, major editing, vocal pitch correction, etc. to complete the final tracks

Final Mix
The last phase prior to mastering is the final mix. You will receive for your review a rough mix (from above), a static mix, and an automated final mix for your approval Punch lists will be developed for each mix. A reference CD of your target sound may be used. I strongly encourage you to sit on the final mix for two full weeks…14 days…no compromise here (get it?), to assure that you are ready to commit to mastering. At this point, your project will sound great in the studio and “ok” on other systems.

Mastering
Mastering is to prepare the final mix for reproduction. This is not an optional step. This step provides the final frequency correction , audio sweetening, and loudness correction to give you a fully competitive project that will sound great wherever it is played, especially on the radio !